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Procession – Doom Decimation (2017)REVIEW

Procession have always been a consistent and polished doom troop that fly their true metal flag high with their Candlemass influenced traditional doom sound. This third full-length might have a brighter bass presence and a slight shift towards Grand Magus style vocals, but very little has changed since the previous release. Their sound remains dramatic and powerful without the sort of self-indulgence one expects from epic doom metal; Their sound also continues to move towards traditional heavy metal influences and skims past the usual stoner metal and sludge metal influences of modern doom metal. This sort of development reminds me most of Argus, another band that would rather find new things to do within their wheelhouse instead of expanding into other styles that don’t necessarily represent who they are. Stay true, if you must.

The results are neither mixed nor unexpected. ‘Doom Decimation’ is just a plainly solid heavy metal record. The lyrics are of course narrative and occasionally personal as they posit the end of mankind and eulogize us all. So, while the album is a very standard and palatable 45 minutes long they pack in a lot of serious business and on par heavy metal riffs. None of it is memorable and most of the tracks roll along as the same pace, but the bass work and expressive vocals make up for the general monotony of the experience. I would highly recommend most any Procession album but perhaps none of them over albums like ‘Ancient Dreams’ or ‘Beyond the Crimson Hour’.